The Wind In The Willows Novels & Stories

On the Northwind Trail, just before sunrise, my flashlight cut across the inside of the SUV and landed on five lifeless bodies. My hands shook as I dialed 911. "Hello? I'm on Route 296, the Northwind Trail. Everyone in my car… is dead." The operator's voice was calm but quick. "Please confirm your location. Officers are on their way." My words dropped heavy and flat, like stones hitting the ground. "I'm on Route 296, about three miles east of the mountain pass. The plate number is NA318X. Five people inside the car are dead… and I'm the only one alive."

While I'm waiting for my wife, Anna Fulton, I happen to come across a popular post on social media that's posted by someone who lives in the same city as I do. "What should I do if my husband clings to me too much?" Among the comments that make fun of the original poster for flaunting her happy marriage on the Internet, the lengthy comment left by a masculine ID attracts my attention. "You gotta pretend to be ditzy and dumb. My childhood friend was forced to marry the man she doesn't love, so I suggested to her that she should pretend to be a directionally-challenged idiot. She kept up that facade for five years so far. "After that, her mother-in-law kept urging her to give birth to a baby. So, she secretly coated the stairs with grease, leading to her husband falling down the stairs. When she drove him to the hospital, she pretended to lose her way and drove a few laps around the suburban area. In the end, her husband could never get his manhood up ever again because the treatment got delayed. "Her mother-in-law thought it was an accident. She was afraid that my childhood friend might abandon her husband, so she bought her a house and a car. You have no idea how much that mother-in-law sucked up to her! "Today is her husband's professor selection day. She even suggested to him that she'd drive him to the campus. But the truth is, she plans on pretending to lose her way in the traffic just to drag the time out so that I can replace him in the selection. "Once her husband fails the selection, she'll use the opportunity to convince him to resign from his job. He's already a loser, to begin with. Once he loses his job, she'll have a valid reason to divorce him once and for all." The familiar experience makes my heart skip a beat. Before I can ruminate about the details, I hear Anna's guilt-ridden voice drifting into my ear. "I think I'm lost, Claude. Surely you can make it to the selection on time, right?"

In order to save her father and his company from going down, Kiara Smith was arranged to marry the new Alpha of the Reed Hunter Pack. She was happy with it as she assumed her groom to be Derren Vuron, her crush of 5 years to whom she could not confess due to a certain reason. But to her utter shock, the man who reached to marry her was his younger brother, Icarus, who she hated because he was the reason she couldn't be with Darren. At the night of their wedding, she threw a knife at him and said, "I will hate you forever and never forgive you for what you did." The man, instead, grabbed her neck and said, "You have only two options- live with me as my wife or die."

Leo Parker, my fiance, shoved me out the door with his own hands. He used me as bait to buy time for himself and my best friend, Jessica Thorne, to escape. I'd never forget him shutting the door. I'd never forget his last words through the narrow crack. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Chloe." When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day before the zombie outbreak. Leo is gently urging me to hurry up and transfer 150 thousand dollars for the remodeling. It's the money we set aside for the home we plan to live in after we get married. In my past life, he set a trap and drained every cent of my savings. This time, I smile and agree. The only difference is that the 150 thousand dollars is going to build my doomsday bunker. And I'm also planning something special for them. After all, since I get a second chance at life, I should properly thank them for the "kindness" they showed me last time when they shoved me out to get torn apart by zombies.

When my husband learns of his first love's death, he jumps from the cruise ship where we are spending our honeymoon, ending his life. Only then do I realize he has never gotten over Clara Levine. Reborn back to his teenage years, he resolutely lets go of my hand and walks toward his first love. I watch them leave together, then turn and walk away. From that moment on, our lives become nothing more than two parallel lines that will never meet. Ten years later, we run into each other at a banquet in Oceanus City. He has become a rising star among the elite, with Clara appearing on his arm, intimately holding onto him. When he sees me accidentally wander into the banquet, he can't help but give me advice. "Stop obsessing over me. Even if you wait for me for ten years, I still won't fall in love with you." I ignore him and pull my son out from the corner where he's sneaking cake. His eyes suddenly turn bloodshot as he grabs my hand tightly. "How dare you try to make me jealous on purpose? Didn't you say you would only love me for your entire life?" he says.

Chelsea is caught in a web when she is captured by Dylan Cross, the most notorious mafia don of Miami's underworld. But on the surface, he is the sweetheart of the city and a highly generous philanthropist. She tries to escape but all her efforts prove futile. Over time, she accepts her fate and decides to plot carefully on her next escape plan. She also plans to gain his trust and swindle him in the end before escaping. However, she begins to see a side of Dylan that is both endearing and lovable. She is torn in her feelings but she still clings to her plan. Over time, events spiral out of control and put her in an ultimate dilemma. What will she do? Will she fall in love with this devilish mafia don? Or will she go through with her plan to escape?

“Why do you keep looking at me like I’ve died before?” Elion’s voice trembles—half accusation, half fear. Cale freezes. He shouldn’t know. He shouldn’t remember. But he does. Every scream. Every last breath. Every timeline where Elion slipped through his hands. After a viral scandal destroys his career, Elion joins a reality dating show hoping to fix his reputation. The last thing he expects is a partner who knows his coffee order, his sleeping habits, his childhood lullaby—things he never shared on camera. And when time itself begins to glitch around him, Elion starts asking the question Cale has spent lifetimes trying to avoid: “Have we… met before?” Because Cale isn’t human. He’s a reaper who has rewound time again and again just to keep Elion alive—each reset costing him pieces of his memory. Now the countdown is almost over. One more death. One final rewind. One impossible choice: Save Elion… or stay with him as a mortal who remembers nothing. When a romance made for television turns into a battle against destiny, how far will a reaper go to protect the only soul he has ever chosen?

My cousin stole my fiancé's suppressant on the night of the full moon — just to test how much he loved her. Then she locked me in a room with him while he was out of his mind with pain. Watching Adrian writhe in agony, I wrapped my trembling arms around him and let him mark me. My cousin was devastated. She married the brutal Alpha of the neighboring pack in a fit of spite. When Adrian found out I was pregnant, he had no choice but to make me his Luna. But in five years of marriage, he never once came to see me or our son. After rogues kidnapped us, I thought he'd finally let us go. Instead, he shifted and fought to bring us back — only to die alongside those rogue wolves. I held his bloodied body and watched the light drain from his eyes. With his last breath, he gripped my hand: "Stop saving me! I regret everything… I never needed you to save me…" My heart shattered. Cold wind tore through the hollow in my chest until I couldn't stop shaking, and the world went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that full moon night — five years in the past.

They say I trapped Adrian Cole. That I drugged him. Seduced him. Forced him into a marriage to save my failing family. They’re half right. I did marry him. I am carrying his name. But the trap? That was never mine. For 365 days, I’ve lived with a husband who despises me. Who looks at me with nothing but contempt. Who whispers sweet words to another woman while I’m pregnant with his child. I’ve survived his cruelty. His mother’s disdain. His lover’s mockery. I’ve survived everything except the truth—that I’m in love with a man who will never believe I’m innocent. Now he wants a divorce. And I’m ready to give it to him. But Adrian Cole doesn’t know what he wants. One moment he’s throwing me away. The next, he’s protecting me from the very people who destroyed us both. I can’t speak. But my silence is about to say everything.

Ten years ago, Seraphine was cast out in disgrace when her father was condemned for murdering the Alpha’s son. Now she’s back—stronger, deadlier, and hungry for the truth that destroyed her childhood. But the boy who once shared her secrets is now the ruthless Alpha who refuses to let her leave. Zephyr is convinced she’s returned for blood, and he’ll keep her caged before he lets her tear apart everything he’s built. What he doesn’t expect is the mate bond that ignites between them like wildfire. What she doesn’t expect is how much she still wants the man who never fought for her. Trapped together in a deadly game of dominance and desire, neither realizes that the real killer walks among them—watching, waiting, and willing to destroy them both to keep the past buried. Some betrayals cut deeper than claws. Some truths are worth dying for. And some mates are worth forgiving.